The present invention relates to a continuous post and rail fence, and in particular to a post and rail fence comprised of a plurality of posts and rails interconnected with a clamp comprised of a post clamp, a rail clamp, and an interconnecting tensioning member.
While post and rail fences are common and have the advantage of durability and pleasing appearance, they suffer from a number of drawbacks. Many of the fences are welded in place, which comprises a labor intensive and expensive method of constructing fences. High quality professional welders are hard to find, and expensive to hire.
Further, the materials used for traditional post and rail fences includes heavy pipe, often used and discarded. The old pipe frequently exhibits rusting and pitting, which makes the surface difficult to clean and paint. This results in an unprofessional looking fence, that requires frequent re-painting to maintain a satisfactory appearance. Even with the best of materials pipe and rail fences will require frequent painting over the years.
The highly rigid nature of welded in place pipe and rail fences makes them costly to repair if damaged. For example, a fence near a roadway struck by a vehicle may require complete replacement. Due to the rigid nature of the fence, after an impact every post in the fence has been pulled crooked or is knocked out of alignment. Additionally, the welded joints make replacement of portions of modules of the fence difficult, if not impossible.
Thus, a need exists for a post and rail fence that is easier to install and repair, and still provides the longevity and pleasing appearance of traditional fences.
An object of the present invention comprises providing a post and rail fence that is easy to assemble and maintain.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the following specification, drawings, and claims.
The present invention intends to overcome the difficulties encountered heretofore. To that end, the present invention comprises a post and rail fence comprised of a plurality of posts, rails, and clamps. The posts rigidly engage with the ground in a generally perpendicular fashion, at spaced apart intervals. The clamps interconnect the rails and the posts, through interconnected post clamp and rail clamp sections. The clamp interconnection is accomplished with a tensioning member that provides a variable clamping force and maintains the connection between the posts and the rails.